I Was Up Late Last Night :hammer:

[tex]

installing a "Phoogle Map" on the board. "What's a Phoogle Map", you ask? Well, it's a Google Map, that's modified to show the location of members on a php discussion board, such as this. IOW, you can go into your profile, and enter your location on the map that's now included there. Note that your marker will not be displayed on the phoogle map, unless you select the "Yes" option beside the line that says, "Show My Marker on the Phoogle Map:" The default selection is "No". You can "drag" the map around, so that your location is centered beneath the "cross-hairs", and you can select an icon to be placed at that location on the map. You can zoom the map to whatever level of detail you want, when you set your location, as it's a real, "live" Google Map. Also, you can choose between a regular map, showing roads and cities, a satellite map, or a "hybrid map", that shows a combination. You should be able to zoom all the way down to where you can see your house on the map, if you zoom that far, unless it's hidden by trees, or something else.

Whether or not you choose to display your location is up to you, and if you choose to display it, you can decide on the level of detail, (accuracy), depending on the "zoom" level that you choose. You will notice that only members who are logged in, can access the Phoogle Map, either by means of the link at the top of the page, (which shows the locations of all members who have their locations entered on the map), or by clicking on the link that is visible at the bottom of each post. The link in the posts is only visible for members who have entered their information on the Phoogle Map, of course, and the map displayed there is centered around that members location. Also, the buttons in the posts are not visable to anyone who is not logged in. IOW, these maps are not available to anonymous surfers. If anyone who is not a logged-in member tries to access the maps, they will only get a log-in screen. To take the security a step further, I spend my spare time today, writing some code that will allow the maps to be viewed only by members who have authored a certain, (selectable), number of posts, so that someone cannot just register, and immediately access the maps.

I hope you find this useful, and get a lot of enjoyment out of it. You can also type in anything that you want to be displayed in a "bubble" next to your icon on the map. Or, for example, you could pinpoint a spot on the map where a meeting is to be held, or where a doctor's office is located, or where a favorite store is located, or a zillion other things. On the surface, at least, This seems to be the neatest thing since sliced bread. Lemme know what you think.

To see what I'm talking about, click on the "Phoogle Map" link, on the upper part of this page, (to the right of the "Chat" link), or click on the "Phoogle Map" button at the bottom of this post. To set up your own map, click on the "Profile" link, on the upper part of the page.

These maps can be used for various other purposes also, of course, and there are a lot of options, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Tex

[JLH]

DH said he's surprised that there isn't a light for when someone has a regular poop.

[annie oakley]

That's pretty neat Tex, I just have to perfect my use. I am not sure I did ir right. Love Oma

[annie oakley]

Ya Know Tex, That's not a bad Idea??? A button or Icon for Noran
love Oma

[tex]

DH said he's surprised that there isn't a light for when someone has a regular poop.

I'll have to think about that one a bit.

Tex

[tex]

Oma,

That looks reasonable, so it's probably pretty close.

Love,
Tex

[JLH]

I'll have to teach him the word Norman (normal).

[starfire]

That's great, Tex. I put in where I live now and then tried to put in the Pa location but, of course, it only allowed one location so right now I'm showing in FL. They have the name of the place I live in wrong though. They have it labled as Spanish Lakes Fairways and that is southwest of the "Spanish Lakes" that I live in. They don't have Fairways labeled at all. Just goes to show again that computers are only as good as the information put into them. HaHa

I enjoyed "looking around" a lot. I haven't downloaded Google Earth on my computer since I had to get the new hard drive. I have missed it though.

I love the way we can put our "marker" right on top of the house if you like. I can even do it in Pa and that's out in the "boonies". HaHa

Love, Shirley

[tex]

Hi Shirley,

Thanks for bringing that up. I had forgotten about that, but yes, the way it's set up, only one location can be utilized per member. I suppose the only way to display two locations under the current setup, would be to enter two accounts.

Also, I forgot to mention that not all browsers are supported. Currently, Google Maps only supports the following web browsers:

IE 6.0+ (Windows)
Firefox 2.0+ (Windows, Mac, or Linux)
Safari 3.1+ (Mac)

I noticed that one of the roads in my neighborhood is labeled with both the old name, (that was changed about 10 or 12 years ago, due to 911 regulations), and the new name. Still, that's better than the map on a new GPS navigator that I bought about two months ago - it shows only the old name.

Love,
Tex

[starfire]

It doesn't matter about the 2 places. I am physically in Florida right now and when I'm in Pa I can change it if I want to. I just had to push the limits. HaHa

Love, Shirley

[JoAnn]

Hi Tex, I'm kind of a computer dumb dumb. How do you get your picture or a different picture on the profile next to your post? Also, how did some people get their picture on the phoogle map? Thanks JoAnn

[tex]

Hi JoAnn,

If you just want to use one of the generic avatars, from the board avatar gallery, you can find the instructions on how to do that here:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=173

If you would like to have a custom avatar, made from one of your own pictures, just e-mail me a copy of an image file from a picture that you want to use, and I'll convert it into an avatar and upload it for you. If you have any special instructions on how you want the picture cropped, or touched up, or anything else, please add those instructions to your e-mail, and I'll do my best to create an avatar that you will be happy with.

I partially set up your map, by placing an icon just above the Great Salt Lake. To set it up the way you want, all you have to do is to enter your profile, (through the link near the top of the page), and just click on the map, (left mouse button), and hold the button while you drag the map with the mouse, until the red "cross-hairs" are over the area where you want the icon to end up, to mark your location. When you turn loose of the mouse button, the map will stay put in that spot, or you can move it again, until you have it where you want it. If you want a different icon than I chose, just click on the little white circle beside your icon of choice, to add a dot to it, to select it. You can zoom the map to see more detail, by double-clicking where you want the map to be centered after it enlarges, and then drag it to where it needs to be. You can continue to zoom it until it is expanded enough to show all the detail you need. When you have it the way you want, just click on the "Submit" button, at the bottom of the page, and your information will be saved to the database.

If I didn't explain that well enough, please don't hesitate to ask for more details.

You're most welcome,
Tex

[angy]

I thinks its great tex!! srry u didnt get your regular counting of 100 jumping sheep...over ther fence..

[MaggieRedwings]

Well I tried to update so we will see how it goes.

Love and Thanks, Maggie

[tex]

Hi Maggie,

I checked your map setup in your profile, and everything looked OK, except that you forgot to select the "Yes" option, where it says "Show My Marker on the Phoogle Map:". (The default setting is "No".) I went ahead and selected it for you, and it seems to be working OK now.

Love,
Tex